Shifters of the Wellsprings: The Complete Paranormal Collection

by Leela Ash

  “What does that mean?”

  “No idea. I thought it was her name.”

  Lily glanced at Casey, but the Dragon shrugged. “Means nothing to me either. So, what happened?”

  The two ranchers shared a look, and the old man sighed. “She died. Right there on that couch you’re sitting on.”

  A chill swept over Lily. To sit here, where her mother drew her last breath…

  “Did the police know anything about her?” Casey asked.

  At that, both of their hosts squirmed. “We, uh, didn’t call the police.”

  “You didn’t call the police?” Lily yelped. Dodger didn’t like her tone. The dog’s head snapped up and she gave the Wolf a silent snarl. “You just… what? Dumped her in a shallow grave out back? Is that what you normally do with strangers?”

  Jeffrey held up a hand to ‘calm’ her. “Now miss, you don’t understand. It was a strange thing.”

  “Oh, I get it! Sure, it’s strange to have someone stagger in and die on your couch. But why the hell wouldn’t you call the police?”

  Another pained look flashed between the couple. Another bout of squirming. “You wouldn’t believe us,” Amanda whispered. “It was too strange.”

  Just as she opened her mouth to bite their heads off, Casey leaned forward. “We’ll believe you,” he assured them. As he spoke, he summoned the lightest breath of his Dragon’s power. A light, green and eerie, rose in his eyes. “Nothing’s too strange for us.”

  Shocked, they stared at him slack-jawed. Even the border collie fell silent, cowed by that show of magic.

  Jeffrey licked his lips. “We didn’t call the police because… well, there wasn’t anything to show them. The moment she died, her body just… melted away.”

  The hair on the back of Lily’s neck stood on end. Instinctively, without thinking, her lips curled in a snarl.

  “Like snow,” Amanda breathed. “Even the blood vanished.”

  “Snow would’ve left water,” Jeffrey sighed. “But her? Nothing. So, you see? What could we tell the police? That a strange woman died on our couch and evaporated?”

  “There wasn’t even anything to bury.” Real grief colored Amanda’s words, as if that loss troubled her deeply.

  A hollow ache filled Lily’s chest, as if her heart desperately wanted to feel something – and didn’t know what.

  “I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you more,” the old man apologized.

  “No, we thank you.” Casey rose and bowed to them both. “You have given us some clues and we are grateful.”

  What clues? The fact that her mother wasn’t human? Wasn’t a Shifter either, by the sound of it. No Kind melted away when they died.

  Slowly she rose to her feet, following Casey’s lead. A quick thanks, a glass of tea declined, and they headed out into the night. No wiser than when they came.

  Eh, not true, she chided herself as they trudged through the sage and sand. You got a meaningless phrase. ‘A dan eye.’ Congratulations.

  Casey offered to fly her back to the car, but Lily declined. Riding him seemed too intimate. Instead they trudged for an hour and arrived at their car tired and dusty.

  Her bodyguard pulled onto the dirt track that had brought them to ‘Liliana’s’ grave and headed towards the highway. “I’ll call my Flight in the morning. Perhaps one of them will have some insight.”

  That idea didn’t give her much hope. From what she could tell, the Flight of the Snows shared info. If he didn’t already know, she doubted his Alpha would be any wiser.

  But she had a plan.

  One she knew he’d hate fiercely. A plan that would humiliate him.

  A month ago, she wouldn’t have cared. His baggage was his issue, not hers. But now…

  Now, the idea of hurting him stung. Casey Briggs was a snob and he had a stick the size of her arm up his ass. Yet he meant well. He tried. He spent his whole damned life trying to do the right thing and not upset people. Maybe that left him hide-bound and awkward, but… hell, that was no reason to embarrass a guy, was it?

  Even if it meant she might never know who were parents truly were?

  Lily wrestled with that dilemma all the way back to the main road. Finally, with a sigh, she surrendered. Curiosity was too strong.

  “Okay, I need you to be quiet,” she told him. Casey cocked an eyebrow. “I’m going to do something that’s going to tick you off. A lot. Just let me do it, okay? I’ll apologize later.”

  “Lily, what are you up to?”

  “Pay attention to the road, bro.” She pulled out her phone and dialed a number she’d kept but never used.

  Two rings, and then a voice as deep as the ocean answered. “Hello?”

  “Hey, this is Lily King of the Sand Pack. I’m trying to reach Finn Donnelly of the First Flight.”

  “That’s me.”

  Beside her, Casey’s hands clenched around the wheel in a death grip. She didn’t know what bad history lay between the two Flights of Dragons. But, as she’d expected, her bodyguard was enraged by the idea that she’d go to his enemies for aid.

  “Quick question for you. Do the words ‘A dan eye’ mean anything to you.”

  “Adanai. One word.” No hesitation, no doubt.

  “What does it mean?”

  “It’s a type of creature. Not exactly a Shifter but related. May I ask where you heard this word?”

  She glanced over at Casey. The Dragon ignored her, squinting out at the horizon. “I think my mother knew one… or was one…”

  “I know an Adanai. I’d be happy to introduce you if you’d like.”

  “Geez, thanks!” That was a hell of a breakthrough, and generous. To her surprise Casey didn’t take her gratitude badly. He was too busy glaring the sky to death. Something up there was annoying him.

  “I could put you two together on a video conference tonight, if you’d like to stop by. My Mate and I are staying at Ancient Ways.”

  “Small world. We’re there too, in the Thunderbird Suite. We’re coming into town on 491 right now. I’ll be in my room in ten…”

  “Problems!” Casey bellowed as he slammed on the brakes.

  “What the…!” Inertia threw her forward. The seat belt engaged and cut into her chest as she slammed into it.

  And then she saw them. Two cars crossing the road, cutting off their path to town. Six men with assault rifles, aiming at them across the hoods.

  “Ambush!” Her bodyguard threw the car into reverse. Tires squealed on the tar, filling the air with the stench of burnt rubber.

  “Ms. King?” Finn’s tinny yell rang out as the phone slipped from her fingers. “Are you alright?”

  “Down!” Casey bellowed as the first bullet pinged off their car.

  Phone forgotten, she was already ducking for cover when she saw the true threat.

  A helicopter. Rising, all lights darkened, into the sky with a pair of missiles strapped to its sides.

  Weapons big enough to kill a Dragon.

  Chapter 15.

  Somewhere in his heart, Casey had known this attack was coming.

  Three miles back, a worm of doubt wriggled into his thoughts. A vexing, ‘foolish’ worry he could not shake.

  Something hunts our Mate.

  Edgy, alert, his Dragon sailed overhead. He might question its intuition – but the great serpent didn’t share his doubt. It knew. It trusted. It prepared itself to defend, with a certainty that almost convinced him.

  Almost.

  Then Lily called the damnable First Flight and annoyance swept away any thought of ‘silly’ hunches. And while he stewed over her ‘betrayal’, the trap was sprung. Lost in his own foolish irritation, he was unprepared.

  But his Dragon was not.

  Adrenaline and power flooded through him. It breathed across his skin and, like a pond touched by winter’s kiss, his skin hardened into a thick, protective shield. Not the full scales of a Dragon, but something few bullets could punch through.

  Time slowed as the first b
ullets shattered their windshield. Throwing the car into reverse, he wrenched the wheel to the side. The car spun, placing him between the gunmen and Lily.

  “Down!” he shouted.

  But did she listen to him? No, of course not. Lily fought to free herself from her seat belt – not so that she could slide to the safest spot in the car, the floor. No, she was struggling to draw her gun. Some ridiculous little .357. A pea-shooter in this fight.

  “Get down!” Risky though it was, he took one hand off the wheel and shoved her head down.

  As he did, her window exploded. Another car had pulled up behind them. Now it straddled the road, a shooter leaning out its window. Bullets ricocheted off his arm, leaving welts that would sting for days. Ones that would have shattered Lily’s skull.

  The worst threat – the helicopter and its Hellfire missiles – hovered overhead. Casey wasn’t sure why it hadn’t fired, but he didn’t have time to worry about that.

  Road blocked forward and behind. That left only one option: off road.

  He flipped the car into drive and floored the gas. The sedan plunged off the highway and barreled through the rocky scrubland. Rocks pinged violently off its undercarriage and it rocked from side to side as its poor, delicate tires ground their way over sharp stones were never meant to handle.

  Behind them, the gunmen scrambled back into their cars. He’d bought them a couple of seconds…

  Or not. Suddenly the land around them lit up like a fairground. The helicopter pinned a spotlight on them, giving them no chance to escape their pursuers.

  Yet still it didn’t fire.

  He glanced over at Lily. The size, the enormity of this assault had stunned even his wild Wolf. Pale, wide-eyed, she took deep breaths. With each one, she grew calmer, surer.

  She’s preparing to die. To go down fighting, even if the odds are impossible.

  Casey loved her for that.

  And he had absolutely no intention of letting anyone hurt her.

  Even he, though, had to admit that the odds were grim. With the chopper pinning them down he had no chance to get lost in the desert night. His car, with its low clearance, would bottom out long before his pursuers’ vehicles. And, frankly, the chopper could take them out any time it wanted.

  What the hell was he supposed to do?

  Fight! his Dragon roared. Images filled his mind. Leaping from the metal prison of this car and Shifting. Throwing himself into the sky and sinking fang and claw into that helicopter. Then, as it fell flaming from the air, turning upon the cars behind them with flames boiling from his maw.

  That! Do that!

  And if they hit me with one of those missiles before I reach them?

  The question meant nothing to his Dragon. The supreme predator of this world, it feared nothing. Threats were a strange, alien concept. It brushed aside his question like a buzzing gnat.

  Unlike his Shifter spirit, Casey knew that man was the true apex predator of Earth. Even a Dragon had to respect their destructive power.

  If I don’t dodge that missile, Lily dies. If I abandon her in this car it could roll and kill her. If it takes me too long to destroy that chopper, the others catch up and shoot her.

  Lily is what matters. Not destroying our enemies.

  Even in the depths of its murderous rage, that thought pierced through scales to reach his Dragon’s heart.

  Our Mate. We must guard our Mate.

  That maddening need to attack finally dimmed, letting Casey turn his full attention to their problem. They needed to escape, and he could only think of one way to do it.

  A miserable, pathetic plan that might well kill Lily.

  But what other choice did he have?

  He glanced over at her, hunched on the floor. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.” No hesitation, no fear.

  “Then scoot up here beside me. I’m about to do something insane.”

  She scrambled onto the seat and slid over, pressing her lithe body against his. Casey wrapped an arm tightly around her and felt her heart hammering. With his other hand he clicked open his door, letting the sedan blunder along its own path through the desert.

  “Oh hell,” she whispered, staring through the open door at the sand flying past. “We jumping?”

  “Yup. Hold onto me as tight as you can. Keep your head tucked against my chest. And – if we survive this – don’t move.”

  “But…”

  “Trust me, okay?”

  “Okay.” For once, there was no argument. Slender arms wove around him and she pressed her face against his shirt.

  Then he spun, turning his back to the door, and kicked off as hard as he could. They flew through the door, Lily clutched to his heart, as the car rumbled off into the night.

  One second of flight, his Wolf held tight. Then they slammed into the ground.

  Casey landed on his back, taking the brunt of the impact. Cloth ripped, his jacket shredded. But beneath lay a Dragon’s scales – a shield no mere rock could pierce. The force sent them bouncing across the desert. He held her close, the woman he loved. Arm cradling her body. Hand covering her head. Legs wrapped around her so that the stones and scrub they tumbled through tore futilely at him, not her.

  Yet even his protection wasn’t perfect. He felt her gasp as their landing jolted her down to her bones. Heard her hiss with pain as the rocks tore at her hands. Still, he blessed her choice of fashion. Those motorcycle leathers she always wore were the next best thing to armor. Rocks scuffed them, thorns broke against them. And when they stopped rolling, Lily still breathed. His Mate was bruised, shaken, and scratched – but alive.

  Now to keep her that way.

  With no foot on the gas, the sedan was already rumbling to a halt. The chopper hadn’t missed his trick. It banked and swept back towards them. Once more that light sought them, to reveal them to their pursuers.

  Despite her promise, Lily squirmed. For a Wolf, the urge to flee was too strong. Casey held her tight and spoke.

  “Brother Wind, hear your Kin! Cover me with your cloak, though I lie pinned on the ground!”

  He wasn’t sure the spirits of the air would hear him, down here so far beneath their heights. Or that they’d listen to him in this form. Wind was the brother of Dragons, not men.

  A breeze eddied about them, swirling the dust.

  Chance? Or a sign that the spirits favored him?

  No way to tell. Nothing to do now, except pray.

  “Casey…” Lily wiggled against him. “We need to…”

  “Hush,” he breathed in her ear. “Don’t move. Don’t speak.”

  The spotlight swept over them, lighting the ground around them with its harsh brilliance. His breath caught in his throat. He’d failed. Brother Wind hid Dragons from mortal eyes, not Shifters.

  Then the beam flickered past, flailing left and right across the badlands.

  As if the pilot couldn’t see them.

  Lily gasped softly as she realized what he’d done. Wind’s Blessing was ‘meant’ to hide a Dragon from the view of the mortals it might traumatize. Casey never thought to use it to hide himself. And he still wasn’t sure it would cover Lily.

  Only time would tell.

  Cars shot past them to circle his idling sedan. He and Lily lay, locked in a nervous embrace, as shouts and shots rang out around the empty car.

  Minutes passed as their enemies ranged out, seeking any sign of them. Overhead the chopper circled endlessly, its spotlight probing every nook and cranny. A dozen times it swept over them. Each time Casey caught his breath, sure they were doomed. Yet each time it passed blindly onwards.

  Warm and safe in his arms, Lily waited. Trusting him and his plan.

  The search slowed. Angry, frustrated, their enemies snarled at each other. Over walkie talkies, pilot and drivers blamed each other for this failure. In the end, with no clues, they gave up. Engines revved to life and the little convoy headed back to the road.

  Success! Wrapped in Brother Wind’s invisibility, C
asey grinned.

  Until he noticed that one of the cars was headed straight towards them.

  No! No, no, no! Sweat broke out on his forehead. Freedom was so close!

  But there was no mistake: the car headed straight for them!

  Try to roll between the tires? Hope for the best?

  No, either of those things might kill Lily. Casey tensed as the car approached and, at the last moment, rolled to the side and prayed that either Brother Wind or the darkness of night would protect them.

  This time, his prayers failed.

  A shout brought the car screeching to a halt, horn blaring. At once the chopper whipped around and that damnable light stabbed through the gloom. Revealing the couple for all to see.

  Fight!

  This time, Casey had no other plan. His Dragon was right.

  Time to see how fast he could dodge a Hellfire missile.

  “Run!” he shouted to Lily as he rolled to his feet. Even if he died in this charge, he could buy her enough time to escape.

  Doors flew open, spilling gun-wielding men into the night. His Dragon’s power flared in his heart and he Shifted, rearing up to the heavens as great black wings erupted into the darkness.

  Two tiny red lights appeared on the missiles.

  Too soon! He was still changing, Shifting, growing, when…

  A blast of liquid fire scorched down from the sky, wrapping the helicopter in its deadly embrace. With a bone-rattling ‘BOOM!’ the chopper exploded. Shrapnel and flaming debris rained down across the desert.

  In the flash Casey saw his ally: a great white Dragon, its scales etched with countless scars. It swept low, scattering the gunmen before it.

  Donnelly. Oh hell. He was going to owe a favor to those fools in the First Flight.

  Time to worry about that later. For now, Casey launched himself into the air to help mopping up their enemies.

  One Dragon they’d prepared for.

  Two was too many.